North-American Interfraternity Conference Dishes Out Ridiculously PC Costume Guidelines, Calls Out TFM

Bogey Wells11 years ago

Four days from now, some poor fraternity chapter somewhere will find themselves under attack by an over-sensitive media horde. It happens every year around Halloween. There’s no getting around it.

Our friends at the North-American Interfraternity Conference — the same conference of morons that Lambda Chi recently chose to leave — released an absurd list of guidelines that they believe all chapters should follow to avoid offending the perpetually offended, furthering the idea that offended people are anything more than people too mentally weak to realize that life isn’t a lifelong orgy.

Their main point is to avoid “cultural appropriation,” which, in other words, is nothing more than a green light to dish out blanket false accusations.

From North-American Interfraternity Conference:

Cultural appropriation refers to a “particular power dynamic in which members of a dominant culture take elements from a culture of people who have been systematically oppressed by that dominant group.”

It’s bullshit. Every culture has been oppressed at some point in history. Let’s move on.

Viewed as funny, ironic, trendy, or an opportunity to be retweeted by TFM, dressing up as a Native American, painting oneself with blackface, or dressing as a homeless person is not only offensive behavior, but also correctable.

Is it likely to land your chapter in some hot water if you dress up as one of those examples? Yes. Don’t be a dumbass. However, to toss out incredibly general descriptive terms such as “funny, ironic, and trendy” as costumes you should avoid is taking this ridiculousness to a level of sensitivity that is completely unnecessary for the vast majority of the population. According to the NIC, your creativity should only be shown as long as a basement-dwelling, keyboard warrior won’t contact nationals and bitch.

I also find it comical they specifically call out us here at TFM in their poorly constructed guidelines. First of all, we don’t retweet anybody other than our brands and partner sites on the main account. A quick scroll could’ve shown you that. Some further research will take you to our 2014 Halloween Costume Contest, which is far from anything that could be considered offensive by even the most irrational and volatile corners of the internet. It’s all gorgeous girls and hilarious costumes. Being offended by boobs should result in a prison sentence.

The NIC continued their sad display of rationality by then attacking theme parties.

Theme parties are often glorified by TFM and TSM, in music videos, and they make major news headlines. This publicity is not what your chapter/organization needs or wants. Show the world what fraternities value by respecting differences and celebrating culture.

Nobody hates a good theme party. Furthermore, how are fraternities expected to celebrate culture without using any aspect of that culture? Contradiction? Nah, can’t be.

These days, parties have their own social media presence (i.e. #RedWhite&BetterThanYou #KanyeWesten #Back2BackWorldChamps). Have you thought about the impact of cultural insensitivity on individuals who follow you on social media?

#Back2BackWorldChamps. We’re all up in that noggin. I love it. Instead of standing up for the bullshit their chapters face daily, the NIC would rather bow to the illogical and impossible demands of the turbulent few.

With all of that said, I’ll give you my own personal suggestions for Halloween Costumes. Have fun with it. You’re in college, go all out. You know where to toe the line. Don’t be an idiot, and even still, life will go on..

[via North-American Interfraternity Conference]